The OrtiAMO project is underway: Valagro is taking the lead in promoting passion for agriculture and the culture of sustainability to younger generations

Promoted together with the newspaper Il Centro, the educational project created by MateriaViva starts tomorrow; it involves 170 primary school children in the provinces of Chieti and Pescara (Italy) and aims to raise awareness about the value of sustainability in agriculture

Valagro, Valagro, a leading company in the production and marketing of biostimulants and specialty nutrients, supports OrtiAMO, the educational project that has been designed to increase younger generations’ awareness of the role of sustainable agriculture in guaranteeing the increased production quality and efficiency of foods which are the foundation of a healthy and safe diet.
This goal will be achieved thanks also to the vital contribution of the teachers of ten classes at the schools Pescara 2, Cepagatti, "Don Milani" (Lanciano), "Ciampoli - Spaventa" (Atessa) and "B. Croce" (Paglieta), who will be joined by educators from the company MateriaViva to develop an educational path based on the "learn by doing" principle. Throughout the course of the project, each of the 170 4th and 5th-year primary school students involved in the activities will be responsible for looking after lettuce seedlings and observing the plants’ life cycle until they are ready to eat.
Each lesson will be associated with a section of the Teaching Handbook, a sort of primary school textbook provided to all children to accompany them on their educational journey. It will allow them to report their experiences step by step, stimulated by multidisciplinary exercises ranging from drawing to mathematics to English. Each class will also be provided with a tablet, allowing them to observe the plants with a digital microscope and document each phase with photos and time-lapse videos.
Parents and the wider community will also be able to actively participate in OrtiAMO: updates and news on the project will be provided in the public area of a special website; there will also be a restricted access area that the teachers and families involved can access to view the digital version of the Teaching Handbook and share photos, videos and any multimedia materials created for the project.
Finally, the newspaper Il Centro, the project's media partner, and Rete 8 will make a fundamental contribution to the initiative by providing visibility.
The project will be launched by Class 4A at the Cepagatti Comprehensive School, which will host the first of a total of 30 classroom meetings.
Ottorino La Rocca, President and founder of Valagro "As a company, Valagro has a clear responsibility towards the local community to spread trust in innovations and the culture of sustainability as much as possible. Thanks to OrtiAMO, we can achieve this ambitious goal by directly addressing the children who represent the future partners of our company, as well as future citizens of the community we operate in. In line with Valagro's constant commitment to improving processes and products by making them increasingly efficient and sustainable, we share the belief with the partners of this project that it is essential to involve young people and their families, as well as the scholastic world and the media. This will reinforce links with the local community and foster the sharing of the values ​​and visions that Valagro wishes to promote not only in Abruzzo, but all over the world".